The Week In Plant-Based: Beyond Meat And Pepsi Recreate Jerky With Plants, Hong Kong Gets A New Vegan Brand


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The vegan news never stops! Each week, the Green Queen team dives into the latest developments for plant-based foods around the world so you can catch up on what’s happening across the industry. This week, PepsiCo and Beyond Meat launch a vegan-friendly snack, frozen food giant Tee Yih Jia takes its plant-based brand to Hong Kong, and British pet food startup The Pack raises more awareness around vegan dog diets.

US: PepsiCo and Beyond Meat join forces for vegan jerky, other plant-based products

Beyond Meat has teamed up with PepsiCo to release a vegan jerky snack as part of the two companies’ joint venture called The PLANeT.

The goal of the partnership is to combine Beyond Meat’s technology around alt-protein with Pepsi’s marketing muscle to produce and market plant-based food/bev products. The two companies join other major CPGs including Neslté and Conagra Brands in trying to recreate jerky with plants.

Image courtesy of Beyond Meat.

Europe: Footballer Romelu Lukaku joins Beyond Meat

Speaking of Beyond Meat, the alt-protein giant has added pro footballer Romelu Lukaku as the brand’s first European ambassador. Lukaku even has a new recipe available, Lukaku’s Beyond Bangers and Mash, a plant-based take on the British classic.

Beyond did a major expansion across Europe last year in one step of a much, much larger global expansion plan

Hong Kong: Tee Yih Jia launches plant-based food brand in Hong Kong

Singapore-based frozen food manufacturer Tee Yih Jia (TYJ) will make its plant-based brand ALTN available to consumers at ParknShop supermarkets in Hong Kong. Initial products will include finger foods and ready-to-eat meals such as nuggets, satay, and spaghetti bolognese. ALTN is also expected to launch at other Hong Kong retailers in the near future.

The ALTN brand launched in May of last year in Singapore. TYJ has its sights set on Australia, Europe, and the US as future spots for expansion. 

Image courtesy of So Delicious.

US: So Delicious launches a new line of dairy-like ice creams

The dairy alternatives company just launched its Wondermilk line of desserts that are entirely vegan. The new formula blends multiple different plant-based ingredients including oats, coconut, and soy together with coconut oil. Danone-owned So Delicious says the Wondermilk line is able to achieve the smooth, creamy textures of regular ice creams. 

The dessert line comes in a number of different ice cream pints as well as sundae cones. The Wondermilk line also includes dairy-free milk available in whole and 2% varieties. 

US: Chobani enters the market for plant-based creamers 

Chobani Plant-Based Coffee Creamers are made from pea, coconut, and sunflower protein and are available in Caramel Macchiato, Chocolate Hazelnut, French Vanilla, and Sweet & Creamy flavors.

This line of plant-based creamers comes on the heels of Chobani’s oat-milk creamers, which the company launched last year.  

Image courtesy of The Pack.

UK: The Pack’s new campaign to drive awareness around vegan dog food diets

The Pack, a plant-based dog food company, launched a campaign this month to raise awareness amongst consumers around the importance of plant-based diets for their dogs. 

The campaign is running in London for one month in “dog friendly neighbourhoods and close to parks” including Barnes, Chelsea, Hampstead Heath, Chalk Farm, Islington, and Hackney.  

US: Hot dog chain Wienerschnitzel adds plant-based options

The famed hot dog chain has partnered with Field Roast to carry the latter’s vegan hot dogs in all 327 Wienerschnitzel locations.

The Field Roast Signature Stadium Dog is made from pea protein, fava bean protein, and brown rice and will be available in a few different options on the Wienerschnitzel menu.

UK: H!P launches new flavor of sustainable chocolate

Oat-milk chocolate brand H!P (Happiness in Plants) was launched in 2021 by the great-great-great grandson of confectioner John Cadbury. The company combines vegan ingredients with sustainably sourced, single-origin cocoa and eco-friendly/plastic-free packaging.

The new Salted Honeycomb Bar joined the lineup recently and is currently available at the H!P chocolate website


Lead image courtesy of Beyond Meat.

Author

  • Jenn Marston

    Jenn Marston is a writer and editor covering technology’s impact on food and agriculture systems and their surrounding communities. Prior to Green Queen, she was Senior Editor for food tech publication The Spoon and, before that, Managing Editor for Gigaom Research. She is devoted to helping educate and raise awareness about sustainable businesses, healthier and waste-free lifestyles, and other ways we can collectively build a better food system. She lives in Tennessee and has an enormous vegetable garden.


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